Protesters on Trans Pride marching through central London (Picture: Guy Smallman)
Trans + people are forced to wait up to 25 years for their first health care appointment, according to a shocking new report.
This is before they can begin to access any gender affirming care. And some clinics report much longer wait times.
The report was compiled by campaign groups QueerAF and What the Trans!? using figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
It reveals that the Tavistock and Portman gender identity clinic in London currently has 16,500 patients on its waiting list. It is now offering appointments to those referred five years ago.
Gender-affirming medical intervention is recognised as life-saving care—and no one should have to wait years.
Sky, a trans woman, told Socialist Worker, “When I heard about the report, I had a feeling of dread. I am little older than some trans+ people so I only waited for four years. In Manchester it is a 12 years waiting list for life-saving care.
“If I was younger, I know I would be caught up in waiting lists and this would do irreparable damage. Trans+ people will kill themselves. Already, some 40 percent have attempted suicide.”
To get any gender affirming care on the NHS, applicants first have to get a referral from a GP to a gender clinic and then wait for an initial assessment.
This drawn-out process regularly includes invasive questions about a trans+ person’s identity, life, and sex life. Many are left feeling like they have to prove that they’re “trans enough.”
Trans woman Louisa explained to Socialist Worker, “I was referred for my first appointment in 2016. It was really difficult to get referred. I had to visit three GPs before I found one who would refer me.
“Even then it was humiliating because they ask about your sexual history. The GP asked me if I wear women’s clothes. I said I’m wearing women’s clothes—my jeans. The doctor made the sexist assumption that women’s clothes were high heels and a skirt.
“I was waiting for my first appointment. Back then, gender clinics released waiting lists. When I first phoned, it was a 38 week wait. The next time, it was 58 weeks and then it was 130 weeks.
“The appointment was getting further away from me—I stopped calling.
“I got my first appointment on the NHS in 2021. But I had already paid for some private speech therapy because that is so important to how you present.”
Once a young trans+ person has acknowledged that they want to medically transition, they have to spend years waiting while their bodies are changing.
“Waiting so long has a huge impact on mental health,” Louisa said. “You say, ‘I am trans, this is real’, and you think about what changes you want but nothing happens so body dysphoria can intensify. Having five years stuck in that place is very damaging.
“I was forced to pay privately for speech therapy and hormones and this pushed me back into sex work and this is a common experience. A normal job won’t help you build up funds you need—I have spent between £6,000 and £8,000 already.”
Health secretary Wes Streeting promised a new scheme aiming to cut the long waiting times.
But he has supported Labour’s transphobic attacks and backed the Supreme Court’s transphobic ruling earlier this year.
And waiting lists are still growing much faster than appointments. In March 2025, there were 48,000 people awaiting their initial appointment with a gender clinic—an increase of 12.5 percent on the previous year.
Sky expressed her frustration. “To know that because of austerity and the transphobia started by Tories and continued by Labour and sharpened by the far right, we are being denied life-saving health care is horrendous”, she said.
“Trans + teenagers are being forced to go through the most difficult years without care and without the puberty blockers which are now banned and which could make such a difference to their lives.”
Large numbers of people support trans+ rights, as was shown in the mass mobilisations against the Supreme Court ruling.
Unions have to fight for trans+ healthcare for all. And activists have to fight to make sure Your Party comes out clearly for trans+ rights.
Fight every attempt to exclude, isolate and attack trans+ people
The far right are stoking up fear and hatred of Muslims
Defiant march says ‘trans joy is here to stay’
